"He is a great thinker who will probably go along the same lines as his predecessor, but he is not what I felt was needed," Father Lyons said.

The Anglican Bishop of Oxford told BBC News he was "disappointed", pointing out "the vast majority of Catholics around the world are young, are poor and are women".

"One can quite properly ask whether a 78-year-old West European male is the best person to articulate the very pressing concerns of these literally millions of people," the Right Reverend Richard Harries said.

White smoke

Several Britons who were in St Peter's Square have told of the "electric" scenes in the Vatican on Tuesday night.

Software director John Farmer, 36, from Edinburgh, saw the white smoke appearing from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel - the signal that the cardinals had decided on a new Pope.

He said: "When that moment finally came, it was an unbelievable sense of joy."

Kim Campbell, 16, from Dublin, said: "It was so exciting to see the new Pope come out. Everyone applauded and cheered."